An Evening with Stephen Solomon, Author of Revolutionary Dissent: How the Founding Generation Created the Freedom of Speech

An evening with professor and author Stephen Solomon, who will discuss his book Revolutionary Dissent: How the Founding Generation Created the Freedom of Speech.

A panel discussion moderated by Lucy Nalpathanchil, Vice President, Community Engagement at Connecticut Public will follow Dr. Solomon's presentation.

Book sale and signing by Elm Street Books.

Registration required.

When members of the founding generation protested against British authority, debated separation, and then ratified the Constitution, they formed the American political character we know today—raucous, intemperate, and often mean-spirited. In Revolutionary Dissent: How the Founding Generation Created the Freedom of Speech, Stephen D. Solomon brings alive a world of colorful and stormy protests that included effigies, pamphlets, songs, sermons, cartoons, letters, and liberty trees. Solomon explores how Americans of the Revolutionary period rejected laws that made it a crime to criticize government and public officials. Uninhibited dissent provided a distinctly American meaning to the First Amendment's guarantees of freedom of speech and press as a “bulwark of liberty” that was essential to a republican form of government.

Stephen D. Solomon is a Professor of Journalism at New York University, where he teaches First Amendment law. He is founding editor of First Amendment Watch (firstamendmentwatch.org), which provides news, commentary, and legal and historical context for the many free speech conflicts around the U.S. today  A previous book, Ellery’s Protest: How One Young Man Defied Tradition and Sparked the Battle Over School Prayer, told the story of the contentious Supreme Court case in which the justices ruled that state sponsorship of prayer and Bible reading in the public schools violated the First Amendment. Solomon is currently working on A Republic of Rights, to be published in February 2026, that describes how the founders protected individual rights in America and built safeguards against “the monster tyranny.” He is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center.

Presented in partnership with Connecticut Public and the Friends of the Ferguson Library. 

Postponed from an earlier date. If you'd registered to attend this program on October 8, you do not need to register again.